tremblers in gop’s tectonic plates

Thursday March 6, 2014V19, N25

the vote from this November to possibly 2016 when Gov. Mike Pence is expected to seek reelection, the last two weeks have found social conservatives lashing out at the GOP legislative establishment.

“He made an inexcusable mistake, he did. He went to a debate - if he’d just gotten a flat tire, he’d be a senator today.” - Club for Growth’s Chris Chocola, on Richard Mourdock’s rape remark in 2012

Tremblers in GOP’s tectonic platesBosma, Kittlestory, family groupslashing out showsa GOP on edgeBy BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – With the Indiana Republican Party at its power apex, the inevitable fissures are beginning to appear as economic and social conserva-tives are clashing. Nothing revealed this more than the constitutional mar-riage amendment where more than a dozen senators and repre-sentatives broke away, supporting the stripping out of the second sentence. On the Indiana Repub-lican Central Committee, a clear majority said to be around 15 of the 21 members opposed HJR-3. And in the fallout of the second sentence, which delayed

Putin’s Russia, CrimeaBy BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – As day slipped into night during the cruel winter of 2014, millions of Americans watched the mesmerizing closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. This was a stunning facade of the Russian Fed-

eration, particularly its tribute to writers, with their portraits rising up from the floor - Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and, amazingly, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the author who revealed the epic cruelty of gulags of the Soviet Stalin era. Eighteen days prior in the Sochi opening ceremony, Amer-ica and the world would witness a national self-interpretation

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Former Republican Jim Kittle (left) and Speaker Brian Bosma.

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of Russian history, with the classics and its Czarist monarchy giving way to the red, mechanized Soviet period as gears rolled by and Stalinist busts floated with hammers and sickles above. NBC had brought in Vladimir Pozner, the Russian TV commenta-tor who would explain the perplexing giant to the east. “It’s a land many, many people have had problems understanding,” Pozner said during the closing. When it was all over, the Sochi bear mascot blew out the Olympic flame and a tear rolled down its cheek. Looking on was Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin presided over Sochi, while 500 miles to the northwest Kiev rioted and the Ukrainian government fled after massacring 80 rebels or patriots, depending on your viewpoint. The final Olympic weekend had been a juxtaposition of epic state craft propaganda while in Kiev, dissidents advanced beyond barricades as Ya-nukovich’s troops fired into the crowd before he fled. It was easy to sense that within hours after this closing cer-emony on the world’s sporting com-munity, an entire new chapter was about to be written. By the end of the week, Putin had ordered an invasion of the Crimean peninsula. The world had gone from the Olympiad to what Secretary of State John Kerry would characterize as a “19th century” Soviet style occupation. In 1968, the Soviets invaded Prague the same night the Beatles released “Hey Jude” and “Revolution.” In Putin’s incursion, the Western sound track was by Daft Punk. One of the Russian writers not represented at the closing cere-mony was Anna Politkovskaya, author of the 2004 book “Putin’s Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy.” Politkoskaya was not present in Sochi because she was murdered in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building. The case has never been solved. But Politkovskaya’s insights into the “soul” of Putin are relevant

today. It’s a different take than that of President George W. Bush who observed in 2001, “I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul, a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country. I wouldn’t have invited him to my ranch if I didn’t trust him.” Politkovskaya observed: “The return of the Soviet system with the consolidation of Putin’s power was obvious. It has to be said that this outcome has been made possible not only by our negligence, apathy, and weariness after too much revolution-ary change. Throughout the so-called election campaign, from December 7, 2003 until March 14, 2004, Putin openly derided the electorate. The main feature of his contempt was his refusal to debate anything with anyone. He declined to expand on a single point of his own policies in the last four years. His contempt extended not only to representatives of the op-position but to the very concept of op-position. He made no promises about future policy and disdained campaign-ing of any kind. Instead, as under the Soviet regime, he was shown on television every day, receiving top-ranking officials in his Kremlin office and dispensing his highly competent advice on how to conduct whichever ministry or department they came from. He was behaving just like Stalin. “Meeting no resistance, Putin naturally became bolder,” Polit-kovskaya continued. “It is a mistake to suppose he takes no notice of any-thing, never reacts and only, as we’re encouraged to believe, forges ahead in pursuit of power. He pays a lot of attention and takes account of what he sees. He keeps a very close eye on us, this nation he controls.” “He is not a born tyrant and despot; rather, he has been accus-tomed to think along the lines incul-cated in him by the KGB, an organiza-tion he considers a model, as he has stated more than once,” Politkovskaya wrote. “Thus, as soon as anyone

disagrees with him, Putin demands that the ‘hysterics’ be dropped. De-bate is not his element. He doesn’t know how to conduct a dialogue. His genre is military-style monologue. Putin has, by chance, gotten hold of enormous power and has used it to catastrophic effect. In Russia, we have had leaders with this outlook before. It led to tragedy, to blood-shed on a vast scale, to civil wars.” Two days after the Sochi closing ceremonies, former Sens. Dick Lugar and Sam Nunn were at the University of Indianapolis. The masked troops had not yet taken the Crimea, but you could sense the palpable apprehension in these two Americans who know Russia and the Putin regime about as well as any American. “It’s a potential disaster,” Lugar observed, noting the U.S. couldn’t “make any overtures until there’s a government in place” in Ukraine. Nunn’s comments were more ominous. “Somehow we’ve got to create a win/win situation,” the Georgia Democrat said. “Russia sees a win/loss.” Nunn called a partitioning of the Ukraine “a disaster for Russia, Ukraine and Europe.” He cited past Russian assurances when Ukraine divested its 1,000 nuclear warheads under the Nunn/Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program that its “sovereignty was going to be assured.” “We’re going to see in the next few months whether this is going to be a source of friction for decades to come,” Nunn said. Julia Ioffe writing in the New Republic explains the reason for Western angst and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s observation following a Sunday phone call with Putin that the Russian president is “not in touch with real-ity.” Ioffe sees a parallel universe in the mind of Putin. “We didn’t think Putin would do this. Why, exactly? This has often puzzled me about Western analysis of Rus-sia. It is often predicated on wholly Western logic: Surely, Russia won’t invade [Georgia, Ukraine, whoever’s next] because war is costly and the Russian economy isn’t doing well and surely Putin doesn’t want another hit to an al-ready weak ruble; because Russia doesn’t need to conquer Crimea if Crimea is going to secede on its own; Russia will not want to risk the geopolitical isolation, and ‘what’s re-ally in it for Russia?’ . . . . “Stop,” Ioffe wrote. “Russia, or, more accurately, Putin, sees the world according to his own logic, and the logic goes like this: It is better to be feared than loved, it is better to be overly strong than to risk appearing weak,

and Russia was, is, and will be an empire with an eternal appetite for expansion. Trying to harness Russia with our own logic just makes us miss Putin’s next steps.” Or as Ron Fournier wrote this week in the National Journal: “Two successive presidents have failed to realize that Putin, a former KGB officer, does not think like them and does not act in accordance with Western rules and customs, and that a fast-changing post-Cold War world is filled with op-portunistic leaders who, like Putin, rec-ognize that a retrenched United States creates a leadership vacuum that they can fill, brutally.” The vision the West wanted for Putin’s Russia was that of an emerg-ing democracy after 70 years of Soviet horror that included the “Holodomor,” Stalin’s 1930s era man-made famine that killed millions of restive Ukraini-ans. A year after Stalin died, Chair-man Khrushchev gave the Crimea to Ukraine. Who would have thought that more than six decades later, it would create the first real nation-to-nation

geopolitical crisis of the 21st Century. Putin’s Russia has its many facades. People can come and go and not as many millions have been con-signed to the gulags. But I personally witnessed the “soul” of the country in 2007 while traveling with Nunn and Lugar when I returned to my Moscow Grand Marriott room to find my papers and notes scattered about. My departure from Yekaterinburg to Odessa was briefly held up when no one could seem to find my passport. I remember quietly fretting on as the rest of the delegation had moved into boarding. I could see Nunn and Lugar arriving. The Naval and Embassy officials were all on their phones. Finally the passport turned up. I quickly got on the flight. Once in the air, I turned to Kenny Myers Jr., and asked, “What the hell was that all about?” “They probably just wanted to take one more look at you,” he said. That night in the Londonskaya Hotel bar in Odessa, the place was teeming with shadowy figures (the Nunn/Lugar delegation had arrived in town with a po-lice escort). Perhaps the paranoia was settling in. The guy at the other end of the L-shaped bar smoked a cigarette and was watching every time I glanced up. The Black Sea is a mysterious and suspicious neighborhood. The day before we arrived in Odessa, the Cossacks were demonstrating about a Katherine the Great statue in town. Seven years later, they were whipping Pussy Riot in Sochi. This is Putin’s Russia and now it’s potentially Pu-tin’s Ukraine. v

On Tuesday, the National Organization for Mar-riage, via Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana, called on Republican Attorney General Greg Zoeller to investigate former Indiana Republican Chairman Jim Kittle Jr. for “bribery.” It stemmed from comments made by House Speaker Brian Bosma over the past couple of months that a campaign donor, now revealed as Kittle, had offered to fund campaigns if House incumbents were challenged over opposing HJR-3. Bosma told the Associated Press last week that he didn’t think the offer constituted a crime. But the speaker, who has never said Kittle made the offer, acknowledged voicing some concerns. “I did bring to that individual’s attention what it sounded like he was saying and I think he was pretty concerned about it after he said it,” Bosma said. Zoeller spokesman Bryan Corbin acknowledged that NOM had contacted the attorney general about an investigation. “The assertions made do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Attorney General and our jurisdiction is, with rare exceptions, civil only,” Corbin said. Thus, it would be the Southern District Attorney Joe Hogsett who would investigate if such a “crime” had been committed. In the group’s Feb. 28 “Daily News Minute” Clark called the Indiana General Assembly, dominated by GOP super majorities in both chambers, “a dangerous bubble of group think which distorts the real views of Hoosiers.” And this comes after both the House and Senate actually passed HJR-3. Kittle spoke to Howey Politics Indiana about Bosma’s assertions, denying that anything close to a crime had been committed, saying the speaker has changed his story and is now potentially damaging his own future gu-bernatorial aspirations. Kittle also said that the fault lines being exposed could severely damage the GOP. “I don’t think the Republican Party can survive on the far right edge,” Kittle said. “If we go that way, it’s not my party.”

2 different conversations Kittle said that he tried to “ignore” Bosma’s com-ments after first surfacing late in 2013. But after the AP identified him last week, he decided to speak. The AP identified Kittle as offering “unlimited” campaign help “to Bosma as part of a push to defeat the proposed amend-ment, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the discussion.” They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the private

discussions. The AP reported: “Kittle withdrew his offer after Bosma questioned its legality.” “Brian and I had two different conversa-tions on the topic,” said Kittle, whose ascension as state chairman in 2002 essentially paved the way for then White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels to come back and run for governor. In November, Kittle said he met with Bosma in his office and “I gave him my opinion” on pursuing the

constitutional marriage amendment. “I was op-posed and I thought it was bad politics. What I did say was in the case of his members poten-tially being primaried, there would be strong political support for those who would oppose the amendment.” “Any implication of anything untoward isn’t true,” Kittle said, adding that the speaker has “mischaracterized” their conversa-tion because “he’s going through a difficult po-litical time. He misjudged the issue.” This was indicative when HJR-3 couldn’t pass the House Judiciary Committee with the second sentence intact, forcing Bosma to move it to House Elec-tions. The House, along with 23 Republicans, then voted to strip out the second sentence before passing the measure. Kittle said that he met Bosma a second

time in January and said he talked about polling. “The shift on this issue has been quick,” Kittle said. “I was shocked.” Kittle said that Bosma told him that he intended to “get this issue over with quickly.” The former chairman warned Bosma, saying that it was going to “put the focus on you.” Kittle told HPI, “He didn’t see it that way.” As far as Micah Clark and other family groups lashing out against him and legislative leaders, Kittle said, “Those guys are looking for something to hang a losing hat on.” Fallout for Bosma Kittle described a Republican Party that is in dan-ger of losing an array of demographic groups - women, Latinos, gays and younger voters. He said that the groups pushing the marriage amendment are “so far out of the mainstream.” Multiple Republican sources are telling HPI that among state and county party chairs the most expressed word in the wake of the HJR-3 resolution this session is “relief.” As for Bosma’s own future political aspirations, which includes a potential gubernatorial run in 2020 (or 2016 if Pence opts for the presidency), Kittle said, “I think this has killed him. He’s trying to get to the right of Mike Pence.” The entire Bosma/Kittle dustup has Statehouse observers scratching their heads. The most oft asked question is, what does Speaker Bosma have to gain by go-ing this route? In the fallout of HJR-3, it is Senate President David

GOP, from page 1

Long who is receiving widespread kudos for how he handled not only the procedures, but the fall-out surrounding State Sen. Mike Delph. Going into the session, the greater perception was that Long had a more delicate path to tread with the more active conservative caucus. The potential primaries of House incumbents resulted in only one where HJR-3 has become an issue. In HD22, State Rep. Rebecca Kubacki is being challenged by Curt Nisly, who multiple sources have told HPI is being backed by Advance America’s Eric Miller and his network of churches. Kubacki has received cam-paign donations from establishment Republicans such as Jim Morris and Randall Tobias. It was Tobias who with Bob Grand and Kittle in 2001 formed the “Phoenix Group” which began a paral-lel Republican organization. It eventually paved the way for Kittle to take control of the Indiana Republican Party. Without that control, sources have told HPI that Daniels probably would have passed on seeking the governorship in 2004. In another race, HD59 where State Rep. Milo Smith is being challenged by Bartholomew County Council President Ryan Lauer, HJR-3 has not been a conspicuous issue. But Rep. Smith received national media attention when his gay son publicly criticized his father. Lauer is em-ployed by Cummins Engines, part of the business coalition that openly opposed HRJ-3.

Social truce and consequences Daniels was considered an economic conservative, but he was also an ardent backer of organizations like the Indiana Family Institute and he signed some of the most far-reaching anti-abortion legislation in the state’s history. But in 2010, Daniels called for a “truce” on social issues nationally, arguing that all Republicans needed to work together to get the federal debt under control. Daniels also played a key role in providing a clear path for Mike Pence to run for governor in 2012 after the two were on a potential collision course for the 2012 presidential nomination. Pence was nominated for governor unopposed and many expected him to win by a landslide. However, Tea Party and social conservatives revolted against U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, defeating the most prolific Republican vote-getter in history in the GOP primary. The Senate nominee, Richard Mourdock, then imploded his campaign with com-ments on rape and abortion. Pence was initially critical of Mourdock’s remarks, then rallied around him and saw his own campaign struggle to win by less than 3% as female voters, moderate Republicans and independents peeled away. The narrow Pence victory as well as another nail-

biter involving U.S. Rep. Jackie Walor-ski in the redrawn 2nd CD which was supposed to be more Republican, is fueling the angst of Hoosier economic conservatives, who viewed the shift in polling as a threat to Republican Party. The drop off between Mitt Romney at 56% and Pence at 49% was striking and indicative of the electorate’s resistence to far right ide-ology and perceptions of intolerance. An array of business groups and key

funders opposed HJR-3, while Gov. Pence not only backed it, but urged General Assembly Republicans to reinsert the controversial second sentence. Now HJR-3 is poised for the ballot in 2016, put the wings of the GOP on a collision course. This has established two distinct tectonic plates within the Indiana Republican Party and the resulting tremblers were exposed by HJR-3, with the fallout still be-ing felt today. v

Chocola discusses Mourdock Washington Post WASHINGTON – In the eyes of Club for Growth President Chris Chocola, Richard Mourdock would be in the U.S. Senate today if not for controversial comments about rape and pregnancy during a debate in 2012. “He made an inexcusable mistake, he did,” Chocola said at a Wednesday evening debate hosted by the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. “He went to a debate -- if he’d just gotten a flat tire, he’d be a senator today.” Candidate electability was one of many top-ics over which Chocola sparred with Steve LaTourette, the head of the Main Street Partnership, a moderate Republican group. Chocola, a former Indiana congress-men, exchanged blows for an hour, butting heads with LaTourette in a set-to billed as The Tea Party versus The Establishment. “These groups love to engage in a sport called RINO hunting,” said LaTourette in reference to the acronym for the term Republican In Name Only. “You’d think they are on a safari all the time.” LaTourette ar-gued that tea party groups’ unwillingness to budge from hard right positions, insistence on challenging Republican incumbents and preemptive warnings that members vote against certain bills have hurt the party and led to in-fighting that has imperiled its chances of taking back the White House. “It was a non-winning strategy, he said.” “We’re not the radicals. We’re the rational actors,” Chocola responded. v

Is Sen. Delph safe? Alook at SD29 raceBy BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – Does State Sen. Mike Delph have a tough race on his hands heading into November? At 8:08 a.m. on Feb. 14, the Carmel Republican did what no other Hoosier politician had done in modern times. “My biggest criticism is with the evangelical church.

GraceCC, E91, College Park, Northview, etc...you all should be ashamed!” Delph said on this Twitter account, part of a running social media dialogue in the wake of the constitutional marriage amendment passing the Indiana

Senate in its stripped down, single-sentence form. The Delph twitter episode not only earned him headlines and coverage on local TV and radio news, but it brought punishment from Senate leadership for violat-ing caucus rules, costing him his leadership and ranking committee positions, as well as his press secretary. What hasn’t changed is Delph’s commanding money advantage and a core group of supporters among social conservatives who have rallied around him. Exploring the demographics of his district raises the question of whether the two-term Republican could be vulnerable in the November election. Conventional wisdom is that SD29 is a staunchly conservative district that the GOP will hold no matter what. Matt Zapfe, executive director of the Senate Majority Campaign Commit-tee, points to 2006 when down ballot statewide Republicans easily carried the district, establishing a baseline of 58.8% in Tim Berry’s auditor’s race, and in 2010 when he won it with 59.8%. In 2006, Delph ran unop-posed. In 2010, he defeated Democrat Robin Shackleford, now a state repre-sentative, 22,498 to 15,532. In Marion County, Delph out-polled Shackleford 13,414 to 12,518 The problem with that analy-sis is that the district was redrawn in 2011, taking away part of Marion County and adding 12,000 votes in the Zionsville area of Boone County. But Marion County still counts for more than 50% of the registered vot-ers and this part of the district includes Democratic-trending Pike Township. This will be Delph’s first race in the new

district and while unopposed in the Republican primary, he faces J.D. Ford, a gay Democrat who is director of recruit-ment and expansion for the Theta Chi Fraternity. “Although it is a Republican-leaning district, it does not appear to be overwhelmingly Republican or socially conservative,” said Tim Henderson of the Senate Demo-cratic Campaign Committee, who puts the baselines at 42% Democratic, 2 to 3% Libertarian, and 55% Repub-lican. “Richard Mourdock did not break 40% in his race against Joe Donnelly. Donnelly received 54.3% and the Libertarian received 5.7% last election.” In 2012, Democratic Public Education Supt. Glenda Ritz carried the district with 50.9% of the vote. And in President Obama’s 2012 reelection, two years after his Obamacare legislation passed, he lost SD29 by fewer than 1,000 votes. So SD29 is Republican leaning and is fiscally conservative. But it doesn’t have the social conservative firebrand stature like some rural Senate districts have. With Delph’s theatrics and criticism of churches in his own district, and having thoroughly angered not only Senate leadership, but many members of the caucus who he accused of jumping ship on his efforts to restore HJR-3’s second sentence, it raises the specter of an isolated incumbent. Other Republican sources tell HPI that Delph has alienated some moderate conservatives in his district. Former Indiana Republican Chairman Jim Kittle Jr. told HPI that Delph narrowly dodged a primary challenge from a credible Republican. The former chairman was

approached on Feb. 11, a day after the filing dead-line. “I see an oppor-tunity with Sen. Delph’s district,” Henderson said. “He’s created an opportu-nity for us that might not have been there other-wise. J.D. Ford has gotten a lot of people reaching out to him from all walks of life.” “I really think this will be the race to watch in November,” Ford told HPI Wednesday, noting that there will be no presi-dential or gubernatorial race on the ballot. “There will be a clear contrast between what I stand for and what he stands for. There’s not another race as clear as this race can be.” Ford, an Ohio native and graduate of

State Sen. Mike Delph on the Senate floor prior to the HJR-3 vote. (HPI Photo by Matthew Butler)

Purdue Calumet, said that being gay is only a small part of why he is running. “It’s a part of who I am,” Ford said. “It doesn’t make 100% of who I am. I want to be a public servant and have servant leadership. It’s not what makes me a candidate for Senate. I am running on other issues.” He did cite HJR-3 as a “clear con-trast” between him and Delph. “I believe in equality for all people,” Ford explained. “He (Delph) is taking a traditional Judeo-Christian stance on that issue. He always cites in his polls that 60% wanted this to go to the ballot. The people in Carmel, Zionsville and the northwest side of Indi-anpolis really didn’t want it to go to the ballot.” Ford will support mass transit, and said he sees jobs and the economy as the real important issue. “Sen. Delph spent the past six weeks talking about HJR-3 and not really talking about the issues of District 29, which are jobs and economy. They want us to focus on the economy and getting people back to work.” Indiana Freedom’s Megan Robertson told HPI that her organization, which opposed HJR-3, has a C4 tax designation and it has focused on legislative advo-cacy. “I don’t believe that Indiana Freedom will be a player in any campaign,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that Freedom Indiana members won’t be involved. These folks are very organized. I see activists getting involved in local races. He took a district where the door was dead-bolted and that door is now open, with maybe just the chain hanging there.” In the wake of Delph’s outbursts and punishments, family organizations have rallied to his side. American Family Association -Indiana conducted an online survey of more than 300 people and 90% supported Delph’s efforts to restore the second sentence of the marriage amend-ment. In the AFA’s Feb. 28 “Daily News Minute,” Micah Clark called the Indiana General Assembly “a dangerous bubble of group-think which distorts the real views of Hoo-siers.” Delph has a reputation as a hard-working can-didate. In 2009 and 2010, he traveled statewide visiting many of the 90 Tea Party cells that had sprung up across the state. He publicly pondered a primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar in 2012, though he did not publicly support eventual nominee Richard Mourdock, who angered Delph with the controversial 2002 Republican convention floor tactics when both ran for secretary of state. Delph has a big war chest. He raised $86,319.25 in 2013 and reported $180,223 cash on hand. But as Bob Garton, Larry Borst and Bart Peterson will attest, candi-dates with huge money advantages can be defeated. Delph is a prodigious campaigner. He won the seat in 2005 in a Republican caucus after State Sen. Murray Clark stepped down to become Indiana Republican chair-

man and Delph used his social conser-vative connections to defeat Indianapo-lis Councilman Ike Randolph, 36-29. Randolph had the backing of GOP leadership, including Gov. Mitch Daniels and Marion County Chairman Mike Mur-phy, while U.S. Rep. Dan Burton backed Delph, who directed the congressman’s

constituent services. There were 20 vacant precinct committee posts in Wayne and Pike town-ships for that caucus. In his 2005 speech to the caucus, Delph had said he “pledged to respect the sanctity of innocent human life, to stand up to the Indiana Civil Liberties Union in defense of constitution-ally protected First Amendment right to worship the Lord as we individually see fit. I will stand up and say that rulings like that which came from Judge Ham-ilton are not only wrong, they are, in a sense, unAmerican.” Delph had referenced Federal Judge David Hamilton’s injunc-

tion on House prayer. Delph declined to talk about his campaign until after the General Assembly’s sine die. Among Delph’s contributors in 2013 were Stephen Moore of Bloomington ($15,000), Daniel Moore of Bloom-ington ($5,000), Phil Kunz at $7,575, Phil Ping of India-napolis at $5,000, Andrea Devoe of Indianapolis at $2,500, the Dan Burton Congressional Committee at $2,000 and former Indianapolis Councilman Bill Schneider ($1,000). Since Delph’s rotunda press conference, Ford has described a significant outreach in various posts on his Facebook page. His followers on Twitter have increased from 50 to 600, his Facebook page from 700 likes to 1,200. He is cognizant of Supt. Glenda Ritz’s use of social media in her 2012 upset of incumbent Tony Bennett. “She had to run statewide,” Ford said. “I have a much smaller district to focus on.” Ford said he has raised around $2,000 mostly from small donors after the Delph controversy. He said his April financial report will show much greater financial traction. While there appears to be a potential opportu-nity for Ford in this race, he faces a vigorous incumbent campaigner with a dedicated core group of social conser-vative supporters. Ford will have to demonstrate traction in fundraising, and harness the dissatisfaction with Delph in moderate independent and Republican circles in order to make this race competitive. At this juncture, it is too early to tell whether Ford has the ability to do this. Horse Race Status: Likely Delph. v

Democrat J.D. Ford and the newly drawn SD29, which Sen. Delph has not run in to date.

Bayh was roasted, but his future political plans are a mysteryBy BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – Evan Bayh was roasted at the Gridiron last week. But when it comes to his potential political plans, the former two-term governor and U.S. senator ain’t talkin’. Bayh was off limits to the press, as was everything else at the Gridiron. He made only a fleeting appearance at the reception prior to his roasting by Murray Clark and

former aides Bill Moreau and Bart Peterson. With Gov. Mike Pence experiencing a second General Assembly with many of his top priorities set aside by legisla-tive Republicans, the growing consensus among the State-house crowd and a number

of prominent Republicans we’ve talked to is that winning a second term in 2016 is a potential problem, particularly if he runs with HJR-3 on the ballot. It’s also worth not-ing that at this point in his first term, Gov. Mitch Daniels approval rating was below 40%, while Pence’s is closer to 60%. But that kind of talk is absent a key component: Who will be the Democratic nominee? And at this point, Bayh has the Democratic field frozen. Few potential nominees are working the process until they know what Bayh’s plans are. It’s almost a repeat scenario from 1987 when Republicans held legislative su-per majorities, Republicans controlled the governorship for five terms, and Democrats awaited word from the young Secretary of State Bayh on what he would do. His decision to run prompted then State Sen. Frank O’Bannon to close ranks and Bayh delivered them to the promised land in 1988. Older Democrats seem more inspired by a poten-tial Bayh return. Younger Democrats don’t remember much from the last time he was on the ballot in 2006. They do remember how he bolted from the scene in 2010, creating a chain-reaction the party has yet to recover from. Virtually no Democrats are taking the steps and creating the buzz that usually begins two and a half years out from a gubernatorial election.

No GOP rule change The Indiana Republican Central Committee met on Tuesday, but there was no rule change on the number of ballots that will be conducted in the expected treasurer floor fight. There had been a proposal to force the third-place candidate out of the running that is expected to

include Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold, Don Bates Jr., and Kelly Mitchell. That would have created a scenario where no more than two ballots would have been conducted. Proponents of the change were concerned that hundreds of delegates left after the first two ballots in the 2002 sec-retary of state floor battle. Meanwhile, Gov. Pence interviewed the three treasurer candidates. Sources told HPI that Pence had also asked the candidates to submit to credit checks. The sources say that Pence wanted to vet the prospective nominees to avoid a repeat of his selection of Dewayne Sawyer as auditor last summer. Sawyer served three months, then abruptly resigned, citing personal reasons. It is unclear whether Pence will make an endorse-ment, which is a risky proposition for the governor. If he endorses and that candidate loses, it would be an embar-rassment. In 2008, Gov. Mitch Daniels endorsed Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas for attorney general. Costas then lost on the first ballot to current Attorney General Greg Zoeller. Convention Horse Race: Tossup

2nd CD: Morrison wants to debate Bock Dan Morrison, Democratic hopeful for the U.S. House, wants a debate ahead of the May 6 primary (Van-denack, Elkhart Truth). Joe Bock doesn’t, apparently, and it’s got Morrison crying foul. “If you can’t debate in the primary or in the general election,” Morrison said, “you don’t deserve to be in Congress.” Morrison, from Elkhart,

has put the debate question directly to Bock on three occasions, he said Monday, March 3. Bock, from South Bend, didn’t give a direct response the first time, at a January meeting of Elkhart County Democrats, but said no, he wouldn’t debate,

when Morrison (pictured) asked him at a Feb. 22 event in Goshen. Bock also declined at a March 1 meeting of St. Jo-seph County Democrats, Morrison said. Bock, the leading Democratic hopeful for the 2nd District U.S. House spot judging by funds raised, didn’t immediately respond to queries Monday seeking comment. And Morrison, who also unsuccessfully sought a debate ahead of the 2012 primary in the Democratic race that year against Brendan Mullen, said Bock hasn’t offered an explanation. From Morrison’s perspective, a debate would give voters the opportunity to size up the Democratic hope-fuls, side by side, get a sense of how they respond under pressure. “It gives a bird’s eye view of the candidates,” Morrison said. He thinks he’d win in a debate, that Bock “doesn’t have a prayer.” St. Mary’s College political scien-tist Sean Savage said Bock’s apparent refusal to debate is no surprise. Front-runners in such situations typically have have “nothing to gain from a debate and everything to lose,” particularly if a face-off prompts divisiveness, he

said. Primary Horse Race Status: Likely Bock

DCCC not targeting Indiana The Democratic Congressional Campaign Com-mittee announced its first round of candidates for its “Red to Blue” program, which highlights the top campaigns in districts the party is trying to flip from Republican to Democratic. But for the first time in years, not Indiana Democrats made the list.

SD39: Bassler endorsed by ABC The Indiana/Kentucky Associated Builders & Contractors announced today its endorsement of Eric Bassler (R-Washington) for the Republican primary elec-tion to the Indiana Senate, District 39. “Eric Bassler is a small businessman who understands what it takes to make payroll, survive a tough year, and support a family,” said J.R. Gaylor, president of Indiana/Kentucky Associated Builders & Contractors. “Eric will prioritize the economy and he understands competition is good for consumers. He will work to create jobs within in our industry and all across Indiana.” Eric Bassler operates a local Edward Jones financial advisory office in Washington, Ind., where he also serves on the city council. He and his wife Julie have five children and Eric is involved in a variety of other civic and charitable organizations. “I am excited to receive this endorsement,” said Bassler. “I share ABC’s concerns about creating competition in our economy, keeping the govern-ment out of the marketplace, and bringing more jobs to SD 39 and all of Indiana. Our district has been overlooked and underserved for too long.” Bassler is challenging 20-year incumbent State Sen. John Waterman (R-Shelburn). ABC of Indiana/Kentucky represents over 22,000 Merit Shop construction companies across the country and is Indiana’s leading construction business organization. Pri-mary Horse Race: Tossup

HD22: Boyer makes ‘hot tamale’ comment A key Tea Party ally to the Republican challenging State Rep. Rebecca Kubacki denied she made an ethnic slur on her Facebook page on Saturday. “Holy Hot Tamoleeeeee This woman has had enough of her District 22 Representative,” Monica Boyer said in a Saturday Facebook post regarding Rep. Kubacki, the only Latino Republican in the Indiana General Assem-bly. “She nailed it. Ms. Kubacki played her gender card again at the town hall last Friday....I’ll tell ya about that one in the next post. I hate gender cards.” Boyer was re-ferring to a letter to the editor in the Warsaw Times-Union. Boyer is a key supporter of HD22 Republican chal-lenger Curt Nisly. Boyer’s Facebook page has a number of entries talking about the activities of the Nisly campaign. Contacted by IndyPolitics, Boyer said she was not making a racial distinction. “If you read my post in context, you would see that my expression of surprise in the post was directed at Lisa Brown (of whom I don’t know her race

or background),” Boyer said. “Not towards any Hispanic lawmaker.” Earlier Boyer took Kubacki to task for playing “gender” politics. “Politician irritation: Gender card. Friday in a Town Hall, Rebecca Kubacki said she thought more women should run for office because they understand woman’s issues with mothers and children better than men. Yes Rebecca because we know men don’t care about families. SERIOUSLY?!?! She was sitting awkwardly next to Representative Dave Wolkins as she slammed the male gender. Let me just tell you between the two of them, I’d trust Dave Wolkins with my children over her any day.” Primary Horse Race: Leans Kubacki

Christie, Ryan on CPAC speaking list f the race for the Republican presidential nomina-tion had a starting gun, it might be this week’s Conserva-tive Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md (Wall Street Journal). The annual cattle call regularly at-tracts a cavalcade of presidential prospects, and this year is no different. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz kicks off the three-day event on Thursday morning, followed by a parade of other potential White House hopefuls. The most intriguing speaker is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who returns to the CPAC stage a year after event organizers snubbed him for paling around with President Barack Obama in the clos-ing days of the 2012 White House race. The appearance will test Mr. Christie’s appeal among conservative activists on the heels of the traffic scandal that has clouded his presidential aspirations. CPAC is a chance for Republicans to test drive early versions of their stump speech with the conservative base. This year’s conference also arrives at a critical juncture for the GOP, coming days after the first in a series of contentious primaries that will decide who has the upper hand in an ongoing feud between party lead-ers and conservative activists. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (R. Wis.), the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, is expected to tackle the divide directly in his own Thursday morning remarks, casting the public disagreements that have roiled the party over the last year in a more positive light – “I like to think of it as ‘creative tension,’” Mr. Ryan is set to say, according to early excerpts of his speech. “I don’t see this great divide in our party – what I see is a vibrant debate,” Mr. Ryan will tell the assembled activists. “These disagreements have not been over principles – or even policies. They’ve been over tactics. So, I think we have to give each other the benefit of the doubt. But we, your representatives, we have to earn this benefit of the doubt. We have to offer a vision.”

Sen. Banks to speak at CPAC State Sen. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) will ad-dress the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., at 3:25 p.m. Saturday. Banks is one of the rising stars selected as part of this year’s Top 10 Conservatives Under 40. “While it’s exciting to be recognized for individual accomplishment, I view this more

as a stamp of approval for the great work being done by conservatives in Indiana,” Banks said. “We are proving to Washington, D.C., liberals that conservative ideas are not just an ideological choice, but a common sense way to make life better for our fellow Americans.”

Poll shows problems for Christie, Bush As conservatives gather in the Washington area on Thursday for three days of speeches from prospec-tive 2016 presidential candidates and discussions about the future of the GOP, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that three in 10 of all Republicans say they would not vote for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie if he ran for the White House. He was not invited to speak at last year’s event. What he says and the reception he receives will be closely watched and analyzed, and the new survey underscores the obstacles Christie will face if he seeks his party’s nomination in 2016. The poll also found that former Florida governor Jeb Bush has problems of a differ-ent kind. He is more popular in the Republican Party than Christie but faces potential head winds as a candidate. The Post-ABC poll found that almost half of all Americans, and 50 percent of registered voters, say they “definitely would not” vote for him for president — a possible hangover from the presidency of his brother George W. Bush. Just 9 percent of Republicans say they definitely would vote for Christie, while 50 percent say they would consider doing so. Eleven percent say they have no opinion. The 30 per-cent of Republicans who say they definitely would not vote for Christie is the highest percentage for any Republican tested. Next was former Arkansas governor Mike Hucka-bee, at 24 percent, followed by 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney at 23 percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 21 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) at 20 percent and Bush at 18 percent. Romney has the most definite sup-port among Republicans, at 34 percent, followed by Bush and Huckabee at 15 percent each. Two other Republicans, Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), scored in the low double digits on the percentage of those who say they definitely would vote for them.

Warrick County ballots uncounted More than 3,700 absentee ballots cast in person in Warrick County for the November 2012 general election weren’t counted due to an error made by an electronic voting machine technician, county officials confirmed Mon-day (Evans, Evansville Courier & Press). According to the Warrick County Clerk Sarah Redman’s office, Indianapolis-based MicroVote, which services the county’s electronic voting machines, found that one of its electronic techni-cians inadvertently incorrectly uploaded votes cast early at the Warrick County Election Office. The technician report-edly used a microchip card-reader that didn’t have the storage capacity to hold the total amount of early votes cast. The error resulted in only 10 percent of in-person, early votes being tallied. v

Washington Post: Obama’s budget

Good polling newsfor RepublicansBy PETE SEAT INDIANAPOLIS – There was some good news for Republicans in a joint New York Times/CBS poll last week. On the generic U.S. House ballot the party held a 42 per-cent to 39 percent lead over Democrats, meaning Republi-cans are on track to hold their House majority. Additionally, with solid U.S. Senate challengers in Arkansas, Colorado and Virginia having emerged, and open contests in South Dakota and West Virginia, even MSNBC host Chris Matthews predicted Republicans could

pick up 10 – 10! – seats in the up-per chamber in November. This could not come at a better time. Rather than playing in the mi-nority, relegated to watching Harry Reid chuck Republican legislation in the nearest wastebasket, Sen. Dan Coats and his colleagues will have one hand on the steering wheel along with the House, while Presi-dent Barack Obama remains the lone person trying to step on the brakes as his term sunsets. But exuberance on the morning of Nov. 5, 2014, cannot

blind Republicans to the real problems that lie ahead. The Senate majority would only be a guarantee for two years before the likes of John McCain (R-Ariz.), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are up again in 2016. That could lead to easy reelections or highly competitive races in every corner of the country. And beyond that, the longer term trends are extremely troubling, potentially spelling future doom for the Republican Party’s national prospects. While a 51 percent majority of Americans disap-prove of President Obama at the moment, the public isn’t that keen on Republicans either. In a story on the poll, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Megan Th-ee-Brenan wrote that “Republican legislators [in D.C.] are also in the minority of public opinion on matters related to the economy. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the distribution of wealth should be more equitable, and most, regardless of party affiliation, think that any place to reduce the federal budget deficit should include both tax increases and spending cuts.” Of course, public opinion is not always the driving force of prudent policy, but being on the opposite side of the majority is hardly a good spot for a struggling party to be in as it prepares for the future.Even worse, though, is that Republicans are almost as dismayed with Republicans. “The Republican Party is contending with more profound structural challenges,” the reporters added.

“Forty-two percent of Republicans said they were ‘mostly discouraged’ about the future of their party, and among Tea Party supporters, that number was 51 percent.” Among the structural challenges facing Republi-cans is one highlighted in an article called “The GOP’s Tal-ent Gap” by National Journal reporter Alex Roarty. “There’s mounting evidence that the party’s political class simply isn’t good at running campaigns anymore,” Roarty wrote. His theory is that Republicans at the national level aren’t good at learning lessons from each election cycle. While every loss leads to soul searching, every victory is met with chest thumping declarations of electoral supremacy. Therein lies a cosmic misunderstanding of election results. In political campaigning, the end does not justify the means. Winning does not validate every strategy, tactic, idea, commercial, phone script or direct mail piece. Winning just means you need to more closely analyze the data to find improvements for next time. Following the tidal wave of 2010, many believed Republicans had cracked the electoral code. But come 2012, the party had its clock cleaned at the federal level, leading the Republican National Committee to unveil an extensive internal report on the good, bad and ugly of that year. Sometimes candidates win because they run a decidedly superior campaign. Sometimes candidates win because they are dragged across the finish line, riding the coattails of someone higher up the ticket. In the case of 2014, some Republicans will win because the public is plain fed up with President Obama and they want an ad-ditional check on his power. Therefore, it’s way too early for anyone to pop champagne bottles over any poll that shows Republicans leading on the generic ballot. Sure, Republicans are on the right track. But if 2014 is in fact a good year for the party, be wary of anyone who says, “We’re going to run 2016 the same way we did it in 2014.” That’s a surefire recipe for disaster. v

Pete Seat is senior project manager at the India-napolis-based Hathaway Strategies. He was previ-ously a spokesman for President George W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Dan Coats and the Indiana Republican Party. He joins Howey Politics Indiana as a regular columnist.

Chamberlain echoes with Obama, PutinBy CRAIG DUNN KOKOMO – Vladimir Putin has moved his troops into the 21st Century equivalent of the Sudetenland in the Ukranian sovereign territory of the Crimea, daring the world to make a stand against his naked aggression. This modern-day do over of the 20th Century standoff between Adolph Hitler and Neville Chamberlain bears amazing simi-larity to events played out in 1938. Playing the role of the uncertain clueless Chamber-lain is President Barack Obama. Presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in his first year in office, Obama instantly came to equate pacificity and vacillation with world love. His

developmental training over the years by a litany of American-loathing internationalists has matured into a worldview that is naïve at best and outright dangerous during times of cri-sis. The father figure in Obama’s early life was Frank Marshall Davis, who was an anti-American, anti-white Com-munist. While I learned such viewpoints as “Work hard and

get a good education and you can be whatever you want to be” from my father, God only knows the indoctrination the President received from Davis. Obama’s days at Columbia were no better as he latched onto Professor Edward Said, a devout Pro-Pales-tinian and hater of Israel. At Harvard, Barack Obama fell under the sway of Derrick Bell, an advocate of “Critical Race Theory,” intentional race baiting. In the Petri dish of the South side of Chicago, the future President fell in with radical attempted murderer Bill Ayers, who preached to the impressionable Obama from the hymnal of Saul Alinsky, another radical anarchist. They preached a doctrine of wealth redistribution that easily translated into a redistribution of world world power after Obama reached the White House. It was truly indicative of Barack Obama’s phi-losophy and mindset when one of his first acts as Presi-dent was to return to Great Britain the bust of Winston Churchill that graced the Oval Office since the Reagan Administration. It was as symbolic a gesture as it was petty and foolhardy. Winston Churchill knew that dictators and tyrants never understand or respect anything except firm resolute leadership. Tyrants can only prosper and see their power grow in an environment where the fear of action by their opponents opens the door to further acts of aggression. Churchill preached his firm version of diplomacy for nearly

10 years to no avail until Chamberlain’s weakness and policy of appeasement morphed into World War II. The Obama Administration is already well down the road to Armageddon as it has continually demon-strated weakness since day one. From inaction in Egypt and Libya to waffling as Syria crossed the line in the sand with their use of chemical weapons, Obama’s consistent show of weakness has only served to encourage would-be tyrants around the world. Hillary Clinton’s plaintive cry of “What difference does it make?” clearly shows that when it comes to diplo-macy, the Obama Administration is outclassed and clue-less. When it comes to the Ukraine, our position should be clear. We have had a security agreement with the people of the Ukraine since the 1990s. To fail to act in a firm, clear and unambiguous manner will embolden Russian President Putin to further mischief. Make no mistake about it, the people of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia, Turkestan, Uzbekistan, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary all have their eyes on the United States and its actions. Words mean nothing. Should the United States demonstrate no will to protect the lawful government of the Ukraine, the neighboring countries of Russia will find it in their prudent self-interests to draw closer into the sphere of the Russian bear. There are two courses that the Obama Administra-tion may pursue. It may continue its listless course of ap-peasement and mealy-mouthed words that couch unspeci-fied vague actions in a haze of uncertainty or the President may turn to a get tough position developed from lessons learned far too late. The danger of a resolute President suddenly sit-ting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, is that his actions may be wholly misinterpreted by Putin. President John Kennedy never publicly waffled in his approach to dealing with the Soviet Union. This allowed him the luxury of moderating his stance privately and peacefully resolving the Cuban missile crisis. Obama now comes to this crisis from such a position of weakness that the danger of the situation is enormous. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain came to the conclusion that he neither had the will nor the stomach to deal with Adolph Hitler. Hitler’s aggression and duplicity were far beyond the capabilities of Chamberlain to ad-dress. He was forced to crumple up his worthless “peace in our time” appeasement document and resign from of-fice, relegated to the eternal pedestal of failed diplomacy. Unfortunately, this crisis will not see Barack Obama resign from office. The Rahm Emmanuel philoso-phy of “let no crisis go to waste” will probably result in the President calling for more tax hikes, more spending on clean energy technologies and more spending on entitle-ments. Like it or not, we are stuck with President Obama for three more years. The only domestic political action that we may take in support of our nation is to elect a sol-idly Republican Senate which might help shore up Obama’s

State to study economic incentivesBy MORTON MARCUS INDIANAPOLIS – Congratulations to the Indiana General Assembly! These good men and women, unex-pectedly, have taken a step forward toward rationality. Or so it would seem. By a vote of 93-0 in the House and 41-8 in the Senate they approved HB) 1020, authored by Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford). In the Senate the bill was sponsored by Sen. Brandt Hershman (R- Buck Creek) who chairs the bipartisan Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy.

HB 1020 provides for a study of economic development incentives awarded by the state, counties, cities and towns to companies locating or expanding in Indiana. The study charges the commission “to review, analyze and evaluate … incentives … provided to encourage economic development or to alter, reward or subsidize a particular action or behavior by a tax incentive recipient.”

This is a wide-ranging mandate written in that special language which can be understood only by legisla-tors. The commission is to provide a comprehensive review of incentives over a five-year period beginning when the current legislative session is complete. The “nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) is to conduct the evalua-tion and analysis of each incentive” reviewed by the com-mission. What criteria will be used by LSA in the evalu-ation? What factors will be analyzed? The bill leaves this open and we must presume that LSA will decide these questions, perhaps with guidance from the commission. And who, if anyone, will guide the commission? This ambitious program is to “cover exemptions, deductions, credits, preferential rates and other tax ben-efits that: Reduce the amount of a tax that would otherwise

be due the state; Result in a tax refund in excess of any tax due; or Reduce the amount of property taxes that would otherwise be due to a political subdivision of the state. Further, the review would cover programs that “provide improvements or to retire bonds” for sports facili-ties, revitalization areas, enterprise zones, or tax incre-ment financing districts. The information gathered by this study could be a great benefit to economic development professionals and the many governmental units that grant subsidies to the private sector. A five-year study would take us to 2019. During those years, the political composition of the legislature and the administration could change. Different persons, even of the same party, might question the results of such a study. They might request a review of the review, kicking the can further down the road. Such a study, however, may send chills down the spines of both politicians and economic developers. For years there has been little public accountability for the spending on economic development. We do see self-serving annual reports and a flood of news releases, but rarely is there an attempt to match the outcomes of these programs with their costs. Maybe this study will show what works and what hasn’t worked in economic development. Or maybe it will only confirm that, in this area of human endeavor, mean-ingful performance metrics are difficult to conceptualize and evaluate. v

Mr. Marcus is an economist, write r, and speaker who may be reached at [email protected].

backbone on the world stage. Instead of Barack Obama looking for wisdom in the words of his America-hating mentors, he would do well to pay heed to the words of the 18th Century parlia-mentarian Edmund Burke who once declared, “The only

thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” v

Dunn is chairman of the Howard County Republi-cans.

Suspended licenseslaw changingBy MAUREEN HAYDEN INDIANAPOLIS – Unpaid parking fines, falling be-hind on child support, drunken driving: So many offenses trigger a suspended driver’s license in Indiana that more than a half-million Hoosiers have lost their driving privi-leges. In fact, driving on a suspended license is the most common charged offense, prosecutors say.

A bill passed by the House and Senate hopes to keep more drivers legally on the road, supporters say, by elimi-nating most automatic license suspensions for non-traffic of-fenses and giving judges more leeway over how the penalty

is used. The bill also creates a “special use” license with strict conditions such as the use of technology that moni-tors when certain drivers get behind the wheel.Supporters say the law goes a long way toward helping 556,000 Hoosiers with suspended licenses get back on the road legally without compromising public safety. About 5 million people in Indiana are licensed to drive. “We’re not taking away the authority of judges to suspend the licenses of drivers who are dangerous and shouldn’t be on the road,” said Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, who authored the bill. “What we are doing is giving them the authority to fashion a sentence that fits that person.” In Indiana, scores of crimes carry the penalty of lost driving privileges. Your license is suspended if you get caught driving drunk. You can also have your license pulled if you’re a teenager caught in a tavern or an adult behind on child support payments. Most drug-related convictions also revoke driving privileges due to a 1993 federal law that required states to suspend licenses of convicted drug offenders. Police and prosecutors say license suspensions are tagged onto so many crimes that it’s easy to lose a driver’s license but hard to gain one back – especially if you’re poor and can’t afford quickly mounting fines, fees and insurance costs. “Over the years these penalties just keep building up, and after a while you realize, this is just not working,” said Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, who carried the bill in the Senate. David Powell, head of the Indiana Prosecuting At-torneys Council, said he’s seen many people who had few transportation options other than a car during the 20 years he spent as chief prosecutor in a rural Indiana community. People who lost a license didn’t want to lose their job, so they kept driving on a suspended license, without insur-ance, and risked getting caught.

Powell called driving on a suspended license “a crime of poverty.” “In my county, most of the cases I saw were people who couldn’t afford their reinstatement fees, so they just kept driving and just kept getting caught and caught and caught,” he said. That kind of decision has a spiral effect: The first time someone is caught driving with a suspended license, it’s a Class A infraction with a $150 fine. The second of-fense is a Class A misdemeanor with a fine up to $5,000 and up to a year in jail. A third time is Class D felony, with a jail term up to three years and a fine up to $10,000. Once more and it’s a Class C felony and up to eight years in prison. License reinstatement fees escalate from $100 to $300 for each offense. The law currently allows judges to offer pro-bationary or hardship licenses to some people who’ve had their driving privileges automatically suspended. But the rules for granting those are prohibitively restrictive, said Chris Daniels, a lawyer with the Prosecut-ing Attorneys Council who helped draft the law with McMil-lin and Young. “A big part of our goal is to keep the truly dan-gerous drivers off the road while letting people who’ve made a mistake but who can drive safely back on the road legally,” Daniels said. “Right now, we don’t have much of a mechanism in place to do that.” The legislation, if signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Pence, could allow judges to order someone caught drunk driving, for example, to apply for a special-use license with any number of restrictions. To monitor compliance, a judge could order a driver to use a high-tech, ignition-interlock device with a GPS system. The device tests the driver for sobriety, using a Breathalyzer, and tracks the driver’s movements. In late 2013, the National Highway Traf-fic Safety Administration urged states to adopt the use of such devices for first-time convicted drunken drivers, rather than simply suspending their licenses. The NHTSA had found too many people with suspended licenses are still on the road. “We aren’t saying judges should just say, ‘Forget those past mistakes and go forth and drive,” McMillin said. “But there needs to be a mechanism for judges to allow people who’ve committed those crimes to work their way back into society.” v

SEN. MILLER HOPEFUL ON MASS TRANSIT: Support-ers of competing plans to expand mass transit in central Indiana say they’ve got differences to work out before the General Assembly wraps up March 14 but they’re confident they can find resolution (Indianapolis Business Journal). The House and Senate have passed similar ver-sions of legislation to allow five counties to raise individual income taxes – with voter approval – to fund more buses and routes. The bill is headed to a conference committee where two members of the House and two from the Sen-ate will try to work out a compromise. “My ultimate goal

is to see high-quality transportation in metropolitan areas, particularly Indianapolis,” said Sen. Pat Miller, R-Indianap-olis, the author of Senate Bill 176. “I want to make sure there is readily available, easy bus transportation, and all mass transit is readily available.” As passed by the Senate, the bill would also have authorized a corporate income tax increase that would fund about 10 percent of the total cost of expanded mass transit. That version of the bill also banned local governments from using the increased rev-enue to fund light rail. In the House, lawmakers dropped the ban on light rail and stripped out the corporate in-come tax increase. Miller said the conference committee discussion will focus on the light-rail ban and proposals to exclude rural townships from paying taxes for the project.

POLICE EDUCATION BILL PASSES: New standards for police cultural sensitivity training and reporting of bullying-related suicides could become law pending the governor’s approval (Carden, NWI Times). The Indiana Senate gave final approval to the bill in a 40-9 vote on Wednesday.

VETERAN DISCRIMINATION BILL PASSES: A bill to prohibit employers from discriminating against veterans is one step closer to becoming law after it passed the Indiana Senate on Tuesday (Indianapolis Business Jour-nal). House Bill 1242, authored by Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, would ban an employer from refusing to hire anyone because of his or her status as a veteran of the U.S. military. It also requires the Indiana Civil Rights Commission to enforce alleged violations of the practice. “It’s a dishonor to these brave men and women to allow employment discrimination to continue,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, in a prepared statement. “Indiana’s jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans is more than twice as high as the state unemployment rate, and we can’t let anything get in the way of our veterans securing a career after their service,” Banks said. “This legislation sends a message that Indiana cares for its veterans and will continue to advocate for them.” The bill passed the Senate 47-0 and moves back to the House for further consideration..

REGION BILLS PASS: Several legislative proposals sponsored by Northwest Indiana lawmakers, and other measures set to affect the region, received final approval Wednesday by the Republican-controlled General Assem-bly. They now go to Republican Gov. Mike Pence for his signature or veto, including: Political campaigns — House Enrolled Act 1134, sponsored by state Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, D-Crown Point, and state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, prohibits homeowners associations, including gated com-munities, from enacting or enforcing any rule that blocks a political candidate, his or her spouse or any campaign volunteers from entering the neighborhood for politi-cal purposes. “There are homeowners associations that have overstepped their legal rights, in my opinion, by

keeping voters from their elected officials and candidates for office,” VanDenburgh said. State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, and state Rep. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, voted against the measure. Slager said he believes it infringes on the liberty of homeowners associations to keep out un-wanted visitors. “If you’re choosing to live in a gated com-munity where you want to control who gets in, you ought to have that right,” Slager said. The House voted 62-19 to accept a minor Senate change to the proposal. Student transfers — House Enrolled Act 1079, sponsored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso; state Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond; and Slager, allows school corporations that last year barred new, out-of-district transfer students to now enroll siblings of current transfer students, so long as they also permit out-of-district stu-dents who attended an in-district private school last year to enroll. It passed 76-12. Annexation — House Enrolled Act 1099, spon-sored by Niemeyer and state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, enables Lowell, Winfield and similarly situated communities to annex their existing out-of-town water or wastewater treatment facilities, or a police station, without annexing the land between. However, once annexed to their owning municipalities any expansion of those facilities onto adjacent land would require approval by the county council. The House voted 84-4 to concur with the Senate-approved version of this year’s proposal. Turnaround schools — Senate Enrolled Act 205, sponsored by state Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, and state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, gives the State Board of Education three options for ending the takeover of a low-rated school: return the school to the school corporation, turn it into a charter school or begin a new turnaround. It passed 48-0. Road funding study — House Enrolled Act 1104, sponsored by Soliday and state Sen. Jim Arnold, D-La-Porte, directs the Indiana Department of Transportation to contract for a study of whether per-mile charges, or other new funding mechanisms, could replace the gasoline tax in paying for future road and bridge construction. It passed 86-0. Recycling goal — House Enrolled Act 1183, sponsored by Charbonneau, sets a state goal of recycling 50 percent of all municipal waste, and asks that a legisla-tive study committee devise ways of meeting that goal. Senate changes were approved 87-0 by the House. Bus inspection — Senate Enrolled Act 238, sponsored by Arnold and Randolph, mandates the Indiana State Police establish a program to inspect private buses, such as church buses. The inspection must be completed to register a bus with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It passed 38-11. Addiction treatment — House Enrolled Act 1360, sponsored by state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, au-thorizes psychiatrists and other professionals specializing in addiction treatment to participate in the state’s student loan forgiveness program. It passed 86-0. v

Yes, the earth’s tempsare really risingBy JACK COLWELL SOUTH BEND – If the world is really warming up, how come it’s so darned cold? Justin Gillis, environmental science writer for The New York Times, answered that oft-heard question during a lecture on global warming Wednesday at the University of Notre Dame. “Even though it is 12 degrees outside, the world really is warming up,” said Gillis, an expert on the subject and author of a prize-winning series of articles on “Temperature Rising.”

Gillis projected on a screen a map of the world, displaying where it was warmer or colder than normal in January. The global map showed how unseasonably warm January was in much of the world, especially in Alaska, California, Greenland, parts of Canada, areas of China, Brazil, Australia and a lot of Africa. And how about those temperatures at the winter Olympics in Russia?

He also projected photos from satellites showing the rapid and substantial melting of the Arctic ice cap. But around here on those below-zero days with snow drifts and whiteouts, school closings and police warnings to stay off the streets, not many folks were con-templating dangers of polar cap melting and oceans rising to destroy coastal cities and threaten world agriculture and economies in the future. Our winter, however, has had no chilling effect on global warming. Today’s weather and the future climate are different things. Gillis told of sophis-ticated measuring devices monitored by scientists all around the world showing the slow but steady rise in temperatures and continued increases in “the greenhouse gasses we are dumping into the air.” Scientists believe there is a cause-and-effect relationship, the greenhouse gasses as a cause of the global warming. Not all scientists agree on what we should do, on whether it is already

too late to do enough, on whether monster storms will become more common now or on how quickly or slowly various changes will come. But Gillis said there is virtually unanimous agreement in the scientific world that there is global warming, with proof everywhere, proof from satel-lite photos, scientific observations and measurements from instruments on land and sea and in the air. He acknowledged that there are skeptics outside the scientific world, including politicians who raise money and seek votes by claiming that the scientists all over the world are involved in a conspiracy with communists, the devil or Al Gore to fake climate change in order to destroy America. Gillis, meeting with Notre Dame journalism stu-dents prior to the lecture, stressed that he steers away from the partisan politics of Washington and doesn’t waste time interviewing politicians. He also noted how in the past Republicans as well as Democrats recognized the prob-lem and sought to do something about it. He warned the students about what he calls “the false/balance problem in journalism.” Should a journalist fully aware of the truth of global warming give equal space in a story on that subject to someone who denies the facts and spins tales of con-spiracy? Not normally, Gillis said, because doing so would throw things out of balance, giving deniers who have no facts equal standing with all of those who have studied the situation. Gillis acknowledged that it’s hard for journalists trained to give both sides of an issue to refrain in this situation from letting deniers spread rumors and lies in the false theory that this is somehow balance. Rather, he said, it is false balance, “a sin against the truth, a journalistic sin.” The Georgia native cited an analogy from the civil rights struggles in the South in the 1960s. Reporters cov-ering that story found and presented the facts of church

bombings, beatings, killings and repression. Should they have given equal space to deniers from the Ku Klux Klan to provide balance? Or how about equal space in a story on a solar eclipse to members of the Flat Earth Society who deny that the earth is a globe circling the sun? Facts are facts. That globe is getting warmer, even if it still is so darned cold here in March. v

Colwell has covered Indiana politics over five decades for the South Bend Tribune.

Greg Sargent, Washington Post: A new Wash-ington Post/ABC News poll finds that support for gay marriage has hit a new high, with 59 percent of Americans backing it, while only 34 percent are opposed. The poll also finds that 50 percent believe the Constitution’s “equal protection” clause guarantees the legal right to marry — suggesting public support is growing for the argument that observers say will hasten the demise of legal barriers to gay marriage nationally. This could weigh on the Supreme Court. Republicans are alone here: They oppose legal gay marriage by 54-40; and they don’t believe the “equal protection” clause guarantees the legal right to marry by 54-38. Majorities of independents and moderates are in the Yes camp on both. Note the religious breakdown: White evangelical Protestants overwhelmingly oppose gay marriage, by 66-28. By contrast, white non-evangelical Protestants support it by 62-27, and white Catholics sup-port it by 70-26. Mike Huckabee has warned that if the GOP embraces gay marriage, “they’re going to lose a large part of their base because evangelicals will take a walk.” And indeed, the GOP has not meaningfully evolved on gay marriage. While many Repub-licans condemned the Arizona anti-gay bill, the House GOP still won’t vote on the Employ-ment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban anti-gay hiring discrimination. Meanwhile, so few Republican lawmakers have embraced gay marriage that when one steps forward and does so, it’s big news, a veritable act of political heroism. Meanwhile, op-position to gay marriage among Republicans seems to be concentrated among the Tea Party. According to the Post polling team, Republicans and GOP-leaning independents who support the Tea Party oppose gay marriage by 54-38. By contrast, non-Tea Party Republicans and GOP-leaners support gay marriage by 57-36. Tea Party Republicans are often said to be more libertarian-leaning on social issues than other segments of the GOP base (such as evan-gelicals), but a majority of them still opposes same-sex marriage. All of this sheds more light on the question of whether Republicans need to evolve their party to keep in step with diversifying America. As Ron Brownstein and Dem pollster Stan Greenberg have suggested, Dems may continue to profit politically in national elections from the GOP inability to broaden its appeal to segments of the electorate that include “diverse America” and the portions of white America “who are comfortable with diverse Amer-ica.” If this is right, then on gay rights, the GOP continues to be captive to a base that shows no signs of wanting to move into that latter category. v

Maureen Dowd, New York Times: OY. By the time the Bushes and Clintons are finished, they are going to make the Tudors and the Plantagenets look like pik-ers. Before these two families release their death grip on the American electoral system, we’re going to have to watch Chelsea’s granddaughter try to knock off George P.’s

grandson, Prescott Walker Bush II. Barack Obama, who once dreamed of being a transformational president, will turn out to be a mere hiccup in history, the interim guy who provided a tepid respite while Hillary and Jeb geared up to go at it. Elections for president are supposed to make us feel young and excited, as if we’re getting a fresh start. That’s the way it was with J.F.K. and Obama and, even though he was turning 70 when he got inaugurated, Ronald Reagan. But, as the Clinton library tardily disgorged 3,546 pages of official papers Friday — dredging up memories of a presidency that was eight years of turbu-lence held steady by a roaring economy and an incompe-tent opposition, a reign roiled by Hillarycare, Vince Foster, Whitewater, Webb Hubbell, Travelgate, Monica, impeach-ment, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Marc Rich — the looming prospect of another Clinton-Bush race makes us feel fatigued. Our meritocratic society seems increasingly nepotistic and dynastic. There was a Bush or a Clinton in the White House and cabinet for 32 years straight. We’re Bill Murray stuck at 6 a.m. in Harold Ramis’s comic mas-terpiece, “Groundhog Day.” As Time’s Michael Crowley

tweeted on Friday, “Who else is looking forward to potentially TEN more years of obsessing about Hillary Clinton’s past, present and future?”The Clintons don’t get defeated. They get post-poned. Just as Hillary clears the Democratic field if she is healthy and runs, a major Romney donor told The Washington Post that “if Jeb Bush is in

the race, he clears the field.” v

Sid Satter, GulfLive.com: The script in Indiana went like this: Tea Party activists decided longtime Indi-ana Republican U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar “wasn’t conserva-tive enough” to suit them and targeted him for defeat in the 2012 Indiana GOP primary. Lugar was defeated by Tea Party darling Indiana state treasurer Richard Mour-dock thanks in great measure to the out-of-state money pumped into the Mourdock campaign by super PACs (political action committees) Club for Growth, Senate Conservatives Fund and FreedomWorks groups that funnel whopping sums of PAC money into attack ads against pri-marily incumbent Republicans. Then, Indiana Republicans watched the slow-motion train wreck that became Mour-dock’s general election race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, who was elected when Mourdock self-de-structed in part because mainstream Indiana Republicans were disgusted by the tactics of the super PACs in demon-izing Lugar in the Republican primary. So in the internal battle between Indiana Republicans, the net result was the election of a Democrat. Seems that Mississippi Democrats went to school on what happened in the Hoosier state. The question now is whether the Mississippi GOP paid attention to the Indiana exercise as the same super PACs are at work in Mississippi’s current GOP primary. v

IOSHA getsscathing report INDIANAPOLIS - A federal investigation has found that Indiana’s workplace safety agency mishandled complaints, inhibited investigations and discouraged whistelblowers (In-dianapolis Star). Work-place safety experts say the long list of problems documented in a 19-page report from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration could put health and safety of Hoosier workers at risk. The findings confirm problems first reported in the India-napolis Star about the Indiana Occu-pational Safety and Health Administra-tion’s decision to implement inspection quotas that inspectors said deterred complex investigations, and about a decision by the agency’s director not to inspect Sensient Flavors, a south-westside flavoring plant, after an employee was shocked and hospital-ized. The investigation also found that IOSHA failed to investigate an explo-sion at IPL, regularly misclassified complaints, and took four times longer than allowed to initiate inspections. The agency had a backlog of nearly 100 unprocessed complaints that were up to six weeks old, the report says. The state has 30 days to respond to the findings. State and federal OSHA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But John Newquist, a former assistant regional administrator for federal OSHA whose responsibilities including overseeing state OSHA plans, called the report “scathing.” “This is as harsh as it gets,” he said. “If people are afraid to complain, you’re asking for accidents at their facility.”

Referendum setfor Crimea region SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine —

Lawmakers in the embattled Crimean region of Ukraine decided Thursday to hold a referendum March 16 on whether Crimea should become part of Russia, a move likely to further ratchet up tensions (Associated Press). “This is our response to the disorder and lawlessness in Kiev,” Sergei Shuvainikov, a member of the local Crimean legislature, said.

“We will decide our future ourselves.” The parliament in Crimea, which enjoys a degree of autonomy under current Ukrainian law, voted 78 with eight abstentions in favor of holding the referen-

dum. Local voters will also be given the choice of deciding to remain part of Ukraine, but with enhanced lo-cal powers. There was no immediate response from the Ukrainian central government to the vote. On Wednes-day, Ukraine’s prime minister told The Associated Press that Crimea would remain part of Ukraine. A referendum had been already scheduled in Crimea on March 30, but the question to be put to voters was on whether their region should enjoy “state autonomy” within Ukraine.

Louisville mayorsees Indiana ties

NEW ALBANY - Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s address Wednes-day to a group of Southern Indiana business and political leaders was billed as a talk about regionalism and philanthropy, but most of it centered on building bridges (Louisville Courier-Journal). While two Ohio River bridges are underway and will strengthen physical connections between the communities, Fischer said, his admin-istration also has focused on “social innovation,” or ways people can bring their strengths together to help oth-ers. It’s a simple, powerful form of philanthropy. And “it’s good energy,” Fischer said during his speech to 275 people at the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana’s luncheon at

New Albany’s The Grand.

Purdue ‘God’plaque OK’d WEST LAFAYETTE — Pur-due University has reversed course and decided to allow an inscription on a dedication plaque that includes a reference to “God’s physical laws.” Purdue graduates Michael and Cyn-thia McCracken had threatened to sue the university unless it accepted the language on a plaque recognizing their $12,500 donation to the school. The McCrackens said in a statement Wednesday that they “are joyful that we’ve been able to reach a resolution on this matter.” The Journal & Courier reports the plaque states in part: “Dr. Michael McCracken: ‘To all those who seek to better the world through the understanding of God’s physical laws and innovation of practical solutions.’” The public university initially rejected the plaque’s use of the word “God,” saying it could be considered a gov-ernment endorsement of religion.

Obama budget sees6% jobless rate WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s $3.9 trillion budget for next year suggests that the U.S. economic recovery that began in 2009 will continue to gain momentum over the next few years, but that the unemployment rate won’t fall to pre-recession levels of below 6 percent until 2017. The White House is fore-casting that the budget deficit will fall from $649 billion in the fiscal year that ends September 30 to $564 billion in fiscal 2015 and $458 billion in 2017. The administration projected that the unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in January will continue to slowly decline over the next five years, stabilizing at 5.4 percent by 2018. That’s down from a high of 10 percent reached during the 2008-2009 recession.

tremblers in gop’s tectonic plates

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